Two ULI Publications Win Robert Bruss Real Estate Book Awards from National Association of Real Estate Editors

WASHINGTON — (June 10, 2013) – The National Association of Real Estate Editors (NAREE) has selected two Urban Land Institute (ULI) publications as 2013 winners of the Robert Bruss Real Estate Book Award. The two ULI books, Housing America’s Workforce: Case Studies and Lessons Learned from the Experts and Professional Real Estate Development: The ULI Guide to the Business, each received the award program’s Silver Award.

The announcement was made Friday at the NAREE Real Estate Journalism Conference in Atlanta. The annual awards program recognizes excellence in real estate books focusing on the broad field of mortgage finance; home buying and selling; the business cycle of real estate; housing policy and construction; green building and urban design; and other industry topics.

Housing America’s Workforce, published by the ULI Terwilliger Center for Housing and co-authored by Terwilliger Center Executive Director Lynn Ross, offers a comprehensive look at the creation of 18 outstanding workforce housing projects across the United States that have overcome development challenges to help meet demand meet for a product type that remains undersupplied in many of the nation’s urban areas. “Despite unprecedented shifts in the housing market in recent years, far too many individuals and families still have difficulty finding affordable housing near employment centers or within easy access to transit hubs,” Ross said. “Through this publication, we’re demonstrating how to address this gap with innovation and creativity.”

The book’s case studies are based on finalists and winners of the center’s Jack Kemp Workforce Housing Models of Excellence Award competition, established in 2008 to recognize developers who demonstrate leadership and creativity in providing expanded housing opportunities for America’s working families.

The second winning publication, Professional Real Estate Development, is a basic primer on the nuts and bolts of a variety of real estate projects. This new edition, written by Richard Peiser and David Hamilton, provides readers with actual large- and small-scale project case studies on five major real estate development types: raw land, residential, office, retail and industrial. The book is intended to provide readers with a thorough understanding of how good real estate projects impact neighborhoods and their cities, along with how long-term real estate values are connected to taking an active role in protecting the health of urban areas. According to the authors, “development expertise can be applied to much more than building new buildings and subdivisions.” Talented and successful real estate experts, they maintain, must possess skills in buying and leasing empty office space, renovating warehouses, repositioning retail centers, as well as purchasing and reselling distressed debt and workout properties from banks.

NAREE’s book awards program is named after the late Bob Bruss, syndicated real estate columnist, prolific writer, and longtime NAREE leader and mentor who enjoyed reviewing real estate books. The program was created to recognize the excellence manifested in the work of real estate authors on an annual basis. Submissions are evaluated by a panel of three qualified judges, who score each book on originality, readability, accuracy, coverage of subject, scholarship, and design.

The panel was composed of three former NAREE presidents and vice presidents: Allen Norwood, freelance editor of HGTV online and retired homes editor of the Charlotte Observer; Judith Stark, freelance editor/writer and retired real estate and homes editor of the St. Petersburg Times; and Earni Young, freelance journalist and retired columnist/reporter for the Philadelphia Daily News.

Both Housing America’s Workforce (ISBN: 978-0-87420-203-8) and Professional Real Estate Development (ISBN: 0874201632) are free for reporters and editors. Members of the media who wish to obtain complimentary copies should contact Trish Riggs at 202-624-7086. Others may purchase the publications from ULI’s online bookstore.

About the Urban Land InstituteThe Urban Land Institute (uli.org) is a nonprofit education and research institute supported by its members. Its mission is to provide leadership in the responsible use of land and in creating and sustaining thriving communities worldwide. Established in 1936, the Institute has nearly 30,000 members representing all aspects of land use and development disciplines.